I always remember a Chinese friend of mine talking about people's perception of her weight both here in Australia and back in her homeland of China. Here, people are always saying, "You are too skinny! Put on some weight!" In China, she is normal.

Sadly though, the Western diet of high sugar and fatty foods, along with massive amounts of food lacking in nutrition, is infiltrating China. And as this happens, the obesity levels are also rising. However to the rest of us, we picture our local Chinese restaurant and wonder how they managed to stay thin on all of that food!

In a quest to show the Western world why the Chinese were so slim, Chinese food expert Lorraine Clissold has written a book called Why the Chinese Don't Count Calories. Here are some of the highlights:

1. Stop counting calories
The Chinese don't have a word for "calories". They view food as nourishment, not potential weight gain, and I love that. When you take this attitude, it means your meals are filled with nutritious foods instead of thinking a Diet Coke and a chocolate bar could be lunch.

2. Think of vegetables as dishes
I was away recently and was finding it hard to get vegetables with my meals. So I headed to a Chinese restaurant and got a plate full of broccoli stir-fried with garlic - it was heaven!
You may also notice that at a Chinese restaurant, the vegetables aren't tucked away as side orders. They are very much a part of the main event, and along with your meat dishes, you will always order vegetable dishes.

3. Eat until you are full
It should be quite simple. You sit down, eat until you are full (which used to mean until you were satisfied) then you do the same at your next meal. Unfortunately, in the Western world, we have confused ourselves. Firstly, we think full is the point where we are completely stuffed. Then, on top of that, we are too busy worrying about feeling guilty or eating light, which means we tend to skip our proper meals in favour of snacking on other foods.

4. Take liquid food
The Chinese tend to add a liquid course like soup into their meals, instead of drinking throughout their meals.

5. Bring yin and yang into your kitchen
There is a wonderful balance of foods eaten in Chinese, especially since more variety is eaten as all the meals are shared. Yin foods cool the body and tend to be wet and moist, while the yang foods heat it up and are usually dry and crisp ingredients. Each meal will have the perfect combination of these foods.

6. Use food to keep fit
Food was always used to benefit our health, but once again, this idea is being replaced by pills and potions from the drug companies. Garlic as an antibiotic, honey and lemon for your throat, beetroot for healthy blood, psyllium for constipation...nature still provides us with incredibly effective medications. The Chinese are very aware of this, and use their food to ensure the body is balanced and healthy.

7. Drink green tea
Green tea is a wonderful antioxidant, and also eliminates toxins from the body. The Chinese drink it using real tea leaves in a pot, and when they want more, they simply fill up the pot with more hot water without changing the leaves. Much more cost effective, and it also ensures you aren't overdosing on the caffeine.

8. Take restorative exercise
Exercise is very much a part of life in China, but they aren't slugging it out in the gym. Tai Chi, gentle walking and just a general expectation that one should be able to squat and move as you get older means the Chinese stay fit without the need for aerobics. 

Today being Monday is weigh in day, I got up feeling confidant but was still surprised at how well i did!

I lost:

1.9kg   Am now 85.9kg

3cm from bust

3 cm from chest (under bust)

6cm from waist (had to check a couple of time!)

4cm from hips

0cm from thigh - am surprised about that one but not concerned

so all up i am 16cm skinnier than this time last week! what a fantastic effort i say. Its about time the cm started to really come off, i usually only lose about 1cm in any one spot so i feel great- there is nothing that could remove my smile today, well, except maybe the result of my car, still need to find out if it works.

Hope you ar all doing well with your weight loss

You may remember Jennifer Love Hewitt was labelled overweight at the end of last year when she was shown in a bikini while on holidays in Hawaii. Every one of us has seen a photograph of ourselves that wasn't as flattering as it could have been, but the reality was, she still looked great.

Jennifer decided to stand up for herself, saying 'I've sat by in silence for a long time now about the way women's bodies are constantly scrutinized.'

'To set the record straight, I'm not upset for me, but for all of the girls out there that are struggling with their body image.

'A size 2 is not fat! Nor will it ever be. And being a size 0 doesn't make you beautiful.'

She also went on to say, 'To all girls with butts, boobs, hips and a waist, put on a bikini - put it on and stay strong.'

Well, Jennifer has just weakened. She has just been interviewed for US Weekly, showing off her "new body". She has lost 18 pounds (8 kilos) in 10 weeks, after working out with personal trainer Stevie Sant'Angelo.
 

Jennifer told US magazine: 'I am in a pretty good workout regimen that I like, so it inspired me to keep it up. The energy level and the way I feel now is great.'

Her trainer then went on to say, 'She wanted to start moving around because she thought it would make her feel better.'

'She told me, 'They said some rude, mean things, but that's not why I wanted to change.'

It must put these girls in such a difficult situation. Hollywood standards means that anything other than "unbelievably skinny" is overweight. No matter how much you try to fight it, nothing changes, so you end up having to comply to the industry standards for the sake of your career.

The problem is that by doing this, she has let down all of the women who applauded her for standing up for women in general. Does this mean that no matter what women say about how much they love their body, inside, everyone feels better when they are slimmer and fitter? Or do you think that she genuinely felt good before, but maybe only lost weight because of demands by her advisors?

Whatever the reason, hopefully she is happy and healthy now. But I do hope that she manages to still maintain some curves. She was already ranked number 14 in a FHM poll sexiest women in the world, so no doubt her fans will be wishing for the same thing!

America's Michael Phelps is proving to be an incredible Olympian, as he smashes record after record in the pool. But his secret weapon has been revealed. He is on a 12,000 calorie a day diet! OK, so training for five hours a day, six days a week has got to burn off a lot of calories. But that is still an enormous amount of food.

Here is a typical day:

Breakfast

Phelps kick starts his day with three fried-egg sandwiches with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayonnaise.

He then throws back two cups of coffee and sits down to a five egg omelette and a bowl of grits, a porridge of coarsely ground corn. But he's not finished yet. He then has three slices of French toast, with powdered sugar on top. And to finish: three chocolate chip pancakes.

Lunch

Lunch is half a kilogram - ie a whole packet - of enriched pasta and two large ham and cheese sandwiches. On white bread with loads of mayo on top. He washes this down with about 1,000 calories of energy drink.

Dinner

Time to load up on carbs for the next day's training. Another half kilo of enriched pasta with an entire pizza to follow. And another 1,000 calories of energy drinks. Phelps told US television channel NBC yesterday: "Eat, sleep and swim, that's all I can do."
 

I am actually quite shocked his daily intake. If it is true, then wow, this boy would have a serious problem if he gave up training. It's interesting that some athletes choose to take the carb loading route, while others love their lean protein, nuts and vegetables.

There is no denying Michael Phelps in a champion - he has proven it time and time again. But I certainly wouldn't be recommending this kind of diet for any other "would be" champions. It's got to have an impact on your health in the long term.

Source

I brought 'Denise Austin Untimate fat burner' DVD a few months ago but gave up on it after about 5min and have forgotton all about it ever since. But today i decided to give it a go and lasted about 15min.

I do want to do the whole workout and will be able to when i get a step bench and weights. I think i also need a better sports bra- OMG do they bounce (ok, i know its a bit to much info).

There is alot of bouncing around in the dvd, doing star jumps and other vigerouse lunges which i could not do correctly as i was to busy holding my chest.

Can anyone recommend a great sports bra that will hold them really still!

***UPDATE: Went to the shops earlier and brought a step platform and some hand weights. Also brough a new sports bra for $20 and OMG! its fantastic, i can jump and jump with just a little bounce, i want to get more but i intend on shrinking further so might just keep washing this one until i get smaller.

I am a little upset this morning, i should be feeling great as i have lost another 800g.
I am upset as i weighed myself yesterday and i was down an extra 700g! but that could be for a number of reasons, i know our bodies go up and down daily which is why we are not supposed to weigh ourselves daily. I had actually weighed myself 4 or 5 times during the week and was excited each morning seeing it go down slightly.

I know if i hadnt been weighing myslef during the week i would be feeling so happy today. 800g is still a great result even if it could have been 1.5kg. It also does not help that i ate way to much food yesterday (about an extra 500caleries). Never mind, this is a new day and a new week

I don't know about you but I love the Olympics. Even those McDonald's ads that showed the nation stopping to watch a race gave me goosebumps. It's so great to see the triumphs, the dedication of the athletes and the incredible talent to overcome regular human limits.

I think these athletes have the ability to inspire all of us to push through our barriers and reach much greater heights than we ever thought we could reach. They set their goals, train hard, and visualise themselves achieving their dreams. Nothing comes without some hard work.

It's also important to remember that we won't always win the race, but it's about being the best you can be. There is nothing worse than a missed opportunity to do your best.

So as you watch these inspiring athletes, take a moment to think about your own life. Think about the areas that you can work harder in, and understand sometimes it takes some extra dedication to achieve your goals. But most of all, be inspired by the human spirit in their quest to achieve greatness. It's an honour to be able to watch them.

I have been feeling fantastic these last few days and just want to exercise. This morning i woke up feeling a bit sore but did not let that deter me.

So after doing some cleaning this morning i headed out an hour ago ready to do week 2 of the C25KM program. I was doing really well for the first 15min then started slowing down but kept pushing forward, at about 20min i was jogging at a walking pace so all of a sudden i pushed myself and really started running- i should not have done that!

All of a sudden my stomach felt like there was a fist inside pushing its way out, my stoma actually felt like it was ripping around the skin, i was in pain!

So i had to stop running and just walk at a snails pace until i found a seat. After resting for a bit i walked home.

I think from now on i wont push myself when it comes to running- obviously its not so good for me. I have 7 weeks until my surgery so cant afford to stuff things up now.

I will still push myself with other exercise and will still do some running- just not lots and lots. I need to listen to my body a bit more.

So for the rest of today i will take time to rest ready for more tomorrow :)

I weighed in this morning and for the first time in about a month i am heading in the right direction. I am 100g lighter than this time last week so cant really complain.

I know i was not perfect this past week- far from it! so any loss is great at the moment. I have picked things up today and will be pushing myself to get motivated and exercise according to my plan and eat right for the first time in weeks.

Yesterday was so bad! i actually ate 8 slices of white bread during the day! 2 peices of toast with vegimit and cream cheese for breakfast, 2 slices with ham and cheese grilled for morning tea, toasted sandwhich for lunch, another round of grilled ham and cheese for afternoon tea- Way to much bread!!

But today i am doing well- i even just ate a mandarine! i really need to eat more fruit so am getting there.

Decided to test myself today on a range of exercises. I am very happy with my progress.

Jogging 8km/hr  5.5min (previously 5min)

Ab King                60 reps (previously 50)

Leg Magic           50 reps (Previously 40)

Weight machine- arm pushing  60 reps

So i have improved a little. I would have liked to run for longer, i decided to make sure i didnt just try and beat the last effort i covered up the time, that way i knew i had to keep going to make sure i did the best i could (so glad i wnet over 5min)

So i did all that plus a 45 min walk this morning with Eric. Have checked my caleries and have burned more than eaten today so am doing well (cal: -144)

I will be testing myself each week on a Saturday (is written on my exercise timetable)

I hope you are all doing well with your exercise, i guess it does not matter how much you can achieve as long as your slowly improving. i know i still have a long way to go but am making small improvemnts along the way.